11/03/10, 02:30 PM

10/31/10, 01:38 PM

In the closing hours of an expensive brawl focused on jobs and the economy, Republican Rep. Michele
Bachmann and Democratic rival Tarryl Clark veered into abortion politics in their final debate Sunday.

The 6th district forms a kind of backward "C" around parts of the Twin Cities. It includes rural parts of Stearns County at the northwest end, and stretches to Stillwater and parts of Woodbury on the southeastern end. It is also the most solidly Republican district in the state, according to the Partisan Voting Index developed by The Cook Political Report. On average, the district's voters leaned seven points more Republican than the nation as a whole during the last two presidential elections.

Incumbent Republican Michele Bachmann has raised her national profile considerably in the past two years, becoming more active in the tea party movement and creating her own political action committee. She won a close race in 2008 against DFLer Elwyn Tinklenberg. Some analysts say if the Democrats couldn't defeat Bachmann then, amid all of the enthusiasm around Barack Obama, they will be hard-pressed to defeat her this year.